Life Magiks
by Fairyqueen101
Summary: What if Harry met Death in that clearing instead of Dumbles? He is THE Dark Lord, and times change drastically from then on. He goes back to fix things. Has bloodmagic, re-dos and animagi. The Wizarding World has sown the wind; time to reap the whirlwind.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Calling of Ra

He looked out at the sprawling forest, the lake, the castle that was his home for almost as long as he had been alive. The people beyond his borders were crowding in, pushing on his borders. No one lived or ventured inside, that much had stayed consistent in his lifetime. But that was it.

As the last true magic user in the world he commanded respect and immense power over the British Isles, matched only by the monarchy that respected his opinion and listened to his wishes anyway. The only thing he had asked for himself was diplomatic immunity and that his home was his and his alone.

Many countries had attempted to take over his homeland; and the moment they stepped foot on British soil, they were met by a single man, him. Well, him and his pets. It paid off to be a friend of Death. He acted as the reaper for escaped souls and those avoiding Death; hence the need for diplomatic immunity. But his little army consisted of one of every type of basilisk there was (16,) hellhounds, a Hell Dragon, Phoenixes, Dementors, lethifolds, nundus and the thunderbird. Needless to say it was a one-sided massacre whenever they showed up. He still remembered when and how the world found out about magic.

_It was May, 2046. The government had granted him diplomatic immunity despite being confused on how a supposedly 65 year old lord looked, for all intents and purposes, in his early twenties. But they had, and it was an extremely smug Dark Lord that stood on Britain's beaches that day for his first assignment. The attacking navy were all possessed somehow by escaped demons of Hell._

_He asked no questions; just did what he was bid._

_There were three armadas; the first ships were decimated by the 'Kraken' or rather, the Giant Squid's saltwater cousin. It hadn't had a good meal for ages and was starving. The water was pink for days, blood crabs crawled thickly over the shores._

_The next ships were besieged by vengeful Dementors that left nothing of the so called 'elite' but cannon fodder as their ship hit a large reef of sorts and capsized. It was reduced to scrap metal._

_The final wave still sailed on;_ _the men were shaking in relief at reaching land over the nightmare that was the slaughter at sea. They were the first to meet his thunderbird animagus form, discovered only a month before. The sand was black for years following his attack, the ashes washing up to shore as the ships of three thousand was decimated._

_He was a black, translucent cloud, a shadow of flames and the boom of thunder. The other bird was his reflection, to hold corporal form took energy reserves he didn't have at the time. It was all lightning and power, feathers the deep blue of the night sky, electricity leaping over its form._

_Phoenixes were the physical embodiment of magic, Light, Dark or pure, shown by flames that ate their bodies and killed them slowly, bringing the firebirds back in a show of beauty; they lived long lives and embodied pure emotion with their song. Thunderbirds were the opposite, bodies of energy, not magic that kept them alive at all costs, they were, literally, thunderbirds. They were made of lightning and storms, living for the wind and keepers of the balance between serenity and chaos. _

_An hour later a plane flew over, the passengers all landed shaking with outlandish stories of how they saw the ocean below was red and bits of metal were floating everywhere, the beaches were black and there was a giant THING in the water below. The most unbelievable thing was that in a flash of cold, black fire a man appeared, looking tired but happy, who explained cockily to the shocked passengers that he was a wizard, one of the old societies that vanished during the Salem Witch Trials, hiding in plain sight._

_Those men with the odd cloaks wandering around town: Wizards._

_The weird coins of bronze and gold and silver that popped up out of nowhere: their currency._

_Vampires, werewolves, bogeymen, ghosts, demons, dragons, phoenixes, trolls, all those thing you were scared of as a kid: real, alive and kicking._

_He proceeded to change into a beautiful black bird and back again and once more while being taped. They each got a demonstration of magic themselves, be it being turned into animals, having their things charmed to be nigh impossible to fill and very light, to having their looks permanently changed to having him erased traumatising memories from their heads. Then he flashed away once more in cold fire while bowing, his last words to 'pass it on.' The world was in an uproar._

_A few weeks after, the prime ministers, presidents and monarchy of the world came out and said that they had known ever since coming into power that magic existed in the world. _

_When everyone had ceased to reel around whenever magic was mentioned he reappeared, did some press conferences, and negotiated being left alone. _'In exchange for services to his country and information, of course'_ he sneered mentally. _

He shook himself forcefully out of his reverie and sighed. His life had gone downhill from year one; literally. Sighing once more, he bound upon the turrets of the Astronomy Tower and gracefully leapt off.

The black cloak whipped around his lithe body with the wind, the ground getting closer and closer every second; the rush of adrenaline sharpening the senses.

Halfway to the ground he flashed into the Chamber of Secrets, landing on steady feet with a small crackle of lightning, and strode purposefully into the center of the cavern.

His pets had left the year before; beginning in a new world created for them and them alone as a gift for working with the Lord Samael, but not until he had been gifted with extracts of their blood and assorted feathers, fangs, claws, fur, and other parts of that nature. It all went towards paying for this night, the one he would go _home_, to fix things and just perhaps keep the magical population alive for at least a few centuries longer, hopefully millennia. He had to make things _right._

There was only one thing to suit his needs, the Calling of Ra. It was a ritual performed by the Dark Lord, and only when all is lost. To him, his soulmate was dead, magic was gone, the sky was toxic with pollution, and Shini had closed off the ley lines in preparation for the apocalypse.

He had spent so long preparing this ritual, creating it from nothing but love for those he knew and pain for the loss of them. His soul sang along with his voice as he began the ritualistic chant. Slowly, he activated each set of bloodmagic runes etched among his skin until he was glowing blue, gold, silver, black, white, red and green. He belonged to Hogwarts through and through. He still felt grief over the passing of the old castle. The portraits were muggle forever more, the stairwells no longer shifted, the ghosts were gone, and illusions were lifted from the grounds as the last magical creatures but him and Death's Menagerie, as they were called, died quietly, snuffed from existence.

His animagus and elemental forms cried out in pain along with his human soul. As memories of his parents surfaced followed swiftly of their deaths, his old Hogwarts friends and their demise, the Weasleys as Ron, Ginny and Molly turned Dark; it was fifty years after Voldemort fell and he had still not grasped his new status to its full potential. He could've stopped that. They tortured Hermione into insanity and then killed her slowly at the age of 68. She looked twenty. Memories of the wars, the deaths, learning he was a black necromancer who could bring the dead back to life through his own pain, using the losses he'd sustained to do so.

Life Magiks were what kept wizards alive for as long as they did, the stronger the wizard the longer the life. Once 17 they ceased to age any longer but at the rate the magic allows them to. Most wizards aged one and a half years for every two a muggle has and many only died as a result of sickness or 'unnatural causes.' He still only looked to be in his late forties as his aging _slowed down_ over time. He shuddered to think of how long his natural life would be if left alone. Twelve hours had passed since the beginning, and all of the elements had been called on. His voice became hoarse but still he chanted on. Memories of the 'Final Battle' assaulted him next.

_Bodies fell as blood drenched the floor, Snape had been killed by Nagini, and his memories of hearing that his death was needed to defeat Voldemort tore into Harry's being. He was only raised for slaughter. Like a good little lamb, he went to the Forest to face his demise. _

_Walking up to the clearing, he heard a twig snap in the background. He spun around, a growl of defiance building in his throat, as he froze it died to a whimper. He was met by a tall figure, easily six feet tall and surrounded by people in white masks: Voldemort._

_He stood, taking the taunts indifferently and he just listened as the dreaded curse was thrown towards him. A glaring green light hit his unresisting body and he fell limply to the dirt._

_He awoke in a white room, and as he watched it slowly grew definition. Harry discovered that it acted like the Room of Requirement, and got a robe to cover himself with._

'_Odd,' he said calmly to himself, glancing about, 'it looks like King's Cross, is this where I'm judged or something?'_

_Harry walked about the empty train station, now a perfect replica of the real thing, minus the trash and people. It was eerie enough to make him shudder._

_Harry started at the footfalls behind him, he whirled around, looking about wildly and finally, he spotted a figure in the distance._

_He waited tensely as it got closer; eventually it stopped in front of him and stood there calmly._

_Harry did a quick sizing up of the creature standing calmly before him, the black cloak obscured the face within the hood as the air to its right flickered, and all his doubts about it being Death were crushed at the sight of the rune covered scythe with the burning blade._

'_**Harry James Potter,' **__it murmured in a soft voice that belonged to a middle-aged man talking to him in a street, completely out of place with the shape it had at the moment, __**'you know what I am, yes?'**_

'_I do,' Harry murmured carefully as he stood strong, 'you are Death… are you here to take me on to the afterlife, then?' He asked the cloaked figure hesitantly only to be shocked as Death chuckled gently, not at all cruel like he would've suspected. It was comforting, somehow._

'_**No,' **__Death said kindly as Harry jerked in shock,__** 'you won't die here unless you truly wish it, but you are a survivor, Harry Potter and I do not think you could just give up with your goal so very close. And as for calling me Death… it is true, but I am rather partial to my Japanese name, Shinigami.' **_

'_Er, you can call me Harry, I suppose,' he said cautiously, 'and Shinigami is a mouthful… can't I just say Shi or Shini?' The newly christened Shi had the air of one blinking in mild surprise._

'_**Shi, I rather like that one.'**__ He nodded,__** 'right then, let's drop the bombshells shall I?' **__he seemed to be smirking. _

'_Er, if that is as ominous as it sounds,' Harry interrupted, 'I noticed that your voice sounds rather out of place, perhaps you could either assume the… form… that fits it or just use a voice that appears more…' Here he paused, grasping for words before mumbling an indistinct, 'you know,' with a shrug. _

_Shi laughed outright, and Harry watched in fascination as he pulled down the hood of his cloak to show a smiling man with tanned skin, raven hair and bright green eyes, identical to his own. Shi raised an eyebrow as if to say: "well, what do you think?"_

'_Uh,' Harry muttered in shock, 'why do you look so much like… wait, stupid question, you're older than me, why do _I _look so much like _you_?'_

'_**Smart boy, aren't you? Most people are either trembling in fear, bellowing at me or begging for more time, and you just wonder why we look alike!'**_

'_Well, it's not every day I meet Death himself, now do I?' Harry said defensively, 'It's more of an annual thing, and closer to brushes than meeting. And if I'm dead, or not so dead, as you say I am… aren't, whatever, I think I can afford to speculate how and why I'm your weak little clone.'_

_Shi just chuckled again, __**'I don't know why either, but it's time for the bombshells now. One, the "Dark Lord" is more than just a title and Tom Riddle is not it. The Dark Lord is the one who commands the loyalty of dark creatures and those leaning towards the Dark, their magical cores are pure dark magic, and their minds are untainted by the influence, they are one with the magic, which makes them stronger and nigh immortal. Before you get all worried, Tom Marvolo Riddle is branded body, mind, magic and soul; this weakens him, as does his fear of me.'**__ Harry was nodding along, glad that Voldemort wasn't as strong as he believed, __**'there can only be one at a time and the title is passed on when the Lord or Lady retires. The last Dark Lady was one Pernelle Flamel. Her soul mate the Light Lord was Nickolas Flamel.' **__Harry blinked in shock as his brain tried to comprehend that statement as Shi plowed happily on._

'_**Two, the only soul mates are always Light and Dark Lords and Ladies.' **_Alright, there's one question answered_, Harry thought as he resumed nodding. _

'_**Three, you are the Dark Lord.'**_Wait a minute, WHAT?

'_**Four, you are a black necromancer who raises the dead using your own pain instead of that of others, an admirable art, by the way.'**__ His jaw was still on the ground from "three," _I'mthe bloodyDARK LORD?

'_**Five, each ruler of Life Magiks such as yourself can and will absorb the soul of those you kill directly. You gain their memories and magical cores, anything not dark or cores completely black will be altered into compatible magic. The stronger you become the longer you shall live.' **__He was frozen now as his poor abused mind attempted to take in the information._

'_**Six, you have one true servant who has been unknowingly awaiting the one that would awaken the dormant magic within him and allow his loyalties to rest and give him some peace, Severus Snape is this man. You will bring him back shortly with yourself. I'll be sure to stop time and stick him in the Chamber of Secrets for a while to chill out a bit. Now I'll just wait for you to process the speech and ask me how to do so.'**__ Shi sat with an amused air as he conjured a chair to watch the boy's face whirl through emotions._

_Shock, fear, anger and confusion went over his features just to go through the cycle all over again. Around ten minutes later, (a new speed record,) his face slowed as he calmed, accepting the newest developments to his life quickly, it was preferable to dying, after all._

'_Alright,' the brunette sighed, 'you must've apprenticed Dumbledore or something… you both have the Twinkle of Doom… (inset horrified shudder here) how do I do it?' he asked._

_He raised Severus from the dead swiftly and surprisingly easily under Shi's tutelage, to the shock of the man who went into insane hysterics about Hell and how he knew that the Potter brat was a demon sent to terrorize him. _

_Harry left him next to a pillar with a calming shield around him to help him _not_ go on some insane killing rampage. Something told him that that would not be fun. He left and found Tom moments later and re-entered his body, courtesy of Death, and showed that the _Avada Kedarva_ didn't work on him at all by standing up, stretching a bit, and entering the fray. _

_He soon thereafter duelled with the hybrid viciously. _Priori Incantatem_ saved his life once more as the man fell to his own _Avada Kedarva_. Nagini hissed and died in "unexplainable" Hellfire during the fight. Death Eaters dropped dead where they stood, and the rest, as they say, was history._

Tears rolled down Harry's face as he finished the chant, he then, without hesitation or regret, released his Hellfire upon the room. His soul and mind ripped from his body as it burned to ashes along with the corpses of Luna, Hermione and Severus.

His awareness was sucked into a vortex of magic, and he was pulled back through Time in a whirlwind of memories and lights.

_FLASH!_

The last magical war replayed in front of his eyes.

_FLASH!_

His discovery of the thunderbird, basilisk, phoenix, griffin and Minotaur forms.

_FLASH!_

The rediscovery of blood magic and how he slowly but surely strengthened his body into one that was faster and stronger. His internal system was altered so that he no longer needed to eat for long periods of time to keep up energy. Air was enough sustenance for weeks on end before he even got peckish. Water he was fine for indefinitely; his throat converted hydrogen and leftover oxygen when he was dehydrated. Bones were stronger, skin tougher; muscle would stay strong for years even in a coma before diminishing. His eyesight fixed to that of his thunderbird form, partial animagus transformations were allowed, the leftover energy he released at all times transferred into multiple runic stone bracelets that gave him more mundane animal forms.

_FLASH!_

The last muggleborns in the world died with Hogwarts, Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, Salem and Atlantis' remaining magic.

_FLASH!_

He careened towards his ten year old body, the soul of his younger self was banished to a happier universe with the other magical creatures and where everyone who loved him was alive, and all was well to elevate the guilt of taking over this body. His soul careened into the tiny frame and he screamed in pain as his magical core was suppressed by natural and unnatural blocks to the point of only having access to small amounts of his child form's magic. It was almost like having only a sliver of what he had before. All of his animagus forms shuddered and went still but the phoenix, though it was horrendously weak. The blood magic replaced his body and mind at once, it was worse than the _cruciatus_ by far. But he was alive.

Harry Potter had succeeded.

He had successfully preformed the Calling of Ra.

He was back.

'Watch out world,' he murmured weakly under the pounding on his cupboard door, 'because the true Dark Lord has returned.' He laughed cruelly as the pounding ceased, he let loathing into his voice as his mirth showed at the irony of his position as his vision blurred to nothing.

All over the planet, magicals of all nature shuddered at the wave of energy that strengthened them with its power.

Muggles felt like they had drunk ten cups of coffee at once.

Pernelle and Nikolas Flamel felt the powers of a magical Lord and Lady leave them forcibly. They blinked in surprise as the magical backlash was lost in the pulse. They fell simultaneously to the floor as their magic adapted to the loss. There was only one explanation; the Calling of Ra had been performed. They mourned the need for it to be used, while rejoicing that the bleak future that triggered it would change.

Unnoticed in the office of Albus Dumbledore, the monitors for his blood wards fell still and silent. Slowly, reluctantly, they renewed the action they were meant to show for safety, signs that all was well with Harry Potter. The slow rotations and puffs of smoke a grim parody of the cheerfulness of only moments before.

Far away in the forests of Albania, a wraith screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: okay, this is sorta why my other story is sorta… paused for a while. I'll get right back on it, but this idea won't leave me alone! If anyone who knows me is reading this… hi. (Ha-ha, four-day weekend for me! Even if I am confined to the upstairs and the kitchen. ; P

Um, I forgot an A/N for Ch.1, so… any questions, ask away! I'll try not to Mary sue/ Gary Stu everything up here, he'll make mistakes!

!DISCLAIMER! do I really need one? Everyone on this site is just messing with other characters; it's kinda obvious that we don't own anything. *sigh* if I did, you'd never see them again. I used some aspects for an animagus form and bloodrunes from "A Second chance at Life," if you haven't, GO READ IT. it puts my writing to SHAME.

Wow, loooong authors note… I'll stop being evil now, cookies to those that actually read this. Here… story.

Chapter 2: Shi's Prophecy

It had been two weeks since the wave of magical power; the students passed it off as another odd thing that just happened with magic involved. The professors, on the other hand, only felt the like of it the instant of Voldemort's death. The date was September 15, 1990, the day Death was seen at Hogwarts.

Albus had been allowing his gaze to sweep over the student body, happily taking in their expressions, those of pain, longing, love, happiness, loneliness, companionship, stress at the homework of the day and wistfulness, to name a few. Then the air froze and breath became visible as all noise ceased.

A tall figure stepped calmly into the Great Hall out of nowhere, as if he had apparated. The Hall gazed at the dark cloak, the hood's shadow somehow even darker. Snakes of silvery mist akin to that of an incorporeal _patronus_ swirled gracefully around him, even as menace and despair filled the hearts and minds of the school, niggling in the backs of their heads.

'Who are you and what are you doing here?' he questioned after the casting of his phoenix _patronus _trilled its song to lift some of the depression and terror, 'why are you at our school?' everyone sat in rapt attention as the thing began to chant eerily.

'**The first of four,**

**I ride a grey horse.'** Some of the muggleborn Ravenclaws gasped and shivered in terror.

'**I am the last thing you shall see,'** half the Slytherins clued in with gasps.

'**Both rich and poor shall bow before me. **

**I am the Reaper.'**

The Ravenclaws, Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and muggleborns all shuddered, realising that Death incarnate was in the Great Hall; many fainted away, out cold as the slowest Gryffindors processed the riddle.

'That may be so,' said the stern-faced Headmaster with obvious effort, 'but why are you here?' once again Death began to chant, now all the Ravens had Self-Dictating quills out, others slunk to the doors to find them locked and previously unconscious students quaked under their House Tables. There were multiple _patroni _about with little effect.

'**Raised once in Dark and once in Light,**

**The true Dark Lord shall hear thy plight.'** Eyes widened painfully, was he talking about You-Know-Who?

'**Reborn anew from love and pain,'** minds worked as one, You-Know-Who _reborn_,that was bad for sure, but from_ love? _Wait just one damned minute, _what?_

'**His servant one shall know his name.'** One of the Death Eaters from the Inner Circle or a snake could tell, then. Unnoticed to all, Severus Snape grimaced at the collision of his soul from the future. He contained the majority of the fusion at bay for the moment, even though it would cause more pain later. It would be horrendous but he was back in time. He leaned back with an unreadable expression and a twitch of pain in the mouth. Lord Samael had succeeded, then.

'**Order and Chaos shall fall to his hand.**

**Death comes to his one Master's call,' **Death had a master?

'**Magic shall choose a side with all.' **Was magic sentient, then?

'**Beware, betrayers, traitors and fiends,' **unbeknownst to them all, a rat quaked in the coat pocket of Percy Weasley.

'**For the true Dark Lord shall rise from fire,' **No, it wasn't He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but another Dark Lord, the "true" one. Was Grindelwald returning to life? Was Salazar Slytherin?

'**Thieves, liars and puppeteers shall face his ire.' **Dumbledore grimaced asShi turned to the students in general,

'**Band together, young ones, **

**Choose a side,**

**For he with death as his eyes has forgotten knowledge as his guide.' **They had to choose a side in a war? Someone was coming with death in his eyes? Uneasy murmurs began and sobs of fear were heard from the young and older students alike. The feelings being emitted from Shi diminished slowly to almost nothing for the children; natural, cautious optimism took its place. They all had to choose, yes. But they had a choice all the same. Shi seemed to be winking at them.

'Where can we find this "Dark Lord"?' inquired the headmaster, planning to stage an attack against the new threat if at all possible. The time for passive forgiveness was over; he had to end any new wars before they began.

'**Between the Sands of Time,**

**And Valley of Death,**

**Both **** yet none are home to him, it is true.**

**None may enter;**

**Not me and not you.' **The confusion was back tenfold, how could someone live in time and death? And how could Death incarnate not be able to enter?

'Who is he?' asked Dumbledore listlessly, hoping for some clue of how to track him down.

'**He is a snake,' **everyone turned to the green students and their Head of House, all were pale and drawn. Death continued to speak smoothly,** 'with a lion's mane,' **now the Gryffindors were under scrutiny by the school,

**Born to those who died in vain.'** Blinking ensued; no Gryffindors were cunning enough to be a Slytherin while also being orphans… it must be a new student in the years to come.

'What happens to us?' Asked a tense Hufflepuff, she stood and while she shook, Death came to face her. He cocked his head to the side and seemed to smile. One of the strands of mist detached itself and shifted into a black Grim with eyes of liquid gold, it calmly walked over to the quivering girl to bump its nose gently on her hand, granting her courage. It sat by her side and stayed there as she slowly lowered herself onto her seat, given a wide berth by her peers due to the dog of death next to her, seemingly at ease with the scrutiny.

'**Watch out griffins,' **Death barked out suddenly in a harsh voice, swinging to meet the Houses in question,

'**Splinter badgers,**

**Rally serpents,**

**Fly free ravens, **

**Six years more 'til Houses die,' **cries of outrage were muffled under Death's voice,

'**But don't fear Hogwarts, **

**Do not cry. **

**For raised once in Dark and once in Light,**

**The true Dark lord shall hear thy plight.' **

With that, Death nodded and disappeared from sight with a soft whooshing sound, like wings, leaving behind the mundane plane of existence that humans dominated. The Grim winked at the Hufflepuff and returned to mist before fading from view.

Dumbledore stayed standing, albeit shakily, his posture radiating weariness. After being dismissed by an equally weary gesture, the students all filed away to lie in their beds for the night, contemplating the ultimatum. Some decided to wait to see the new Dark Lord before choosing, most just wanted to see which of the three sides to stand on, Ministry, Dark, or Light.

Despite being on high alert, no one had noticed that Severus Snape had staggered away from the Great Hall during the chaos to the dungeons. After a hasty silencing charm, he fell to the stone floor and started to scream. If anyone heard him, they would have believed that the Potions Master was under the worst sort of torture imaginable. They would've been correct.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: here's chapter three. To all those that reviewed, I LOVE YOU ALL! Even the flamer. I love you too. (in a platonic, non-creeper way…) as a matter of fact, any criticism is welcomed happily. I need some to help any new pieces, for example, if I write something else Harry Potter he won't have six animagus forms. But for this one, they play key roles. Trust me.

Btw, sorry for the weird zig-zagg-y things… I have no idea where in the bloody nine hells they came from, but they're there and taught cockroaches how to last awhile. I CAN'T GET RID OF THEM!

!DICLAIMER! 

Lawyers: *rub hands together evilly*

Me: I thought I said in ch. 2 that I own nothing but the plot?

Lawyers: … *leave sadly*

Chapter 3: Planning and Trust

Harry Potter was planning his revenge on the only 'family' that he had left. They had become violent with his transition. In all fairness, he _had _expected something along these lines to happen, the seldom-used ritual was constructed to hurtle the caster backwards into their own timelines in a different universe, but things would be different from the instant the soul merged successfully within the younger vessel.

For the next few years the new timeline would attempt to destroy his will before settling to a passable version of the first timeline. No one else would face the hardship of suffering though; luckily the ritual was created to only attack the caster.

As he had suspected, the first attempt was a prophecy concerning him. Another predicted step came from the Dursleys. They all seemed to take a liking to beating, starving and belittling him. He snorted at the thought, it was a shame that only a few stages of his internal runes could be called on at once due to his weak core, thank god for low power glamour charms. Without them the advanced healing would prompt more pain from his uncle. And not to mention in less contained areas as well.

He shook his head forcibly, curse his attention block! 'The instant I get the chance, I swear to _God_ I'm tearing these damned things to pieces!' he muttered to himself to keep some semblance of sanity… if he had any in the first place… which was highly unlikely.

He had been planning to piss off his uncle in public, to the point of snapping and then playing the part of "the poor abused child who learned that you couldn't lean on anyone to survive." Well… he'd have very thick glamours on, of course.

He was going to do it the first time he Luna and Hermione would be in the same place, during Dudley's eleventh birthday party, at the zoo. He had seven-and-a-half months to do what must be done; namely master the first animagi transformations of his phoenix and mundane forms to the point of an instantaneous shift. The concentration needed would be easier with the block broken, which would only happen with occlumencey; which he was absolutely horrible at.

He lay on his cot and once again submerging within his mind. Things were much better than when he started the day after his return; flimsy barriers separated organised memories into their different levels. With luck, by January he should be able to disintegrate the block. After that he planned to create a true mindscape with traps and everything.

Then he would find the three animagus forms and, like he said, perfect them down to even a partial shift. His plan was to be finished the skill by early to mid-June. Then he would flash to Hogwarts, re-establish the bond with Severus to avoid him throwing himself at his feet when they did meet in around a year from now, which would completely blow Lord Samael's cover, and then to Ollivander's for a wand that truly suited his Dark persona. And then he'd go to Knockturn for his familiars.

His soul-mate would need one as well… he'd take her with him when he went then, and perhaps a trip to her bonded would be beneficial as well.

He snarled as the loss of concentration misplaced a brick. He dissipated it and started forming a new one from memories of the _cruciatus. _The wall to his inner memories was finally finished minutes later. He blinked in surprise, it wasn't even December yet and he was almost finished! Curious, he prodded at one of the concentration blocks sharply and saw it melt away. Harry laughed, elated. The first barrier had been destroyed without him noticing!

Then he started the tedious job of separating the horcrux from his subconciousness. He jerked violently from his mind at the pounding on his door an hour later.

'Hurry up and make breakfast, freak!' screeched the banshee that was his aunt. It was a miracle that her vocal cords remained intact. She shoved him unceremoniously to the stove and left in a huff to greet the walrus and the whale when they "graced him with their presence."

He began to cook the eggs; he had long ago perfected the art of three types on a single pan, (scrambled for Petunia, over easy for Vernon and deep-fried for Dudley) then he used a second to cook the bacon, and a third for the pancakes. By 7:30am the table was set with the meal in the usual places and he snuck away with the carton of softened strawberries, sour milk and a few pieces of stale bread.

Sitting once more on his cot, he quickly scarfed down the measly offerings and attempted to use "accidental" (_*cough* _wandless _*cough*_) magic to incinerate the items. He had succeeded the day before and did so again. His core was growing exponentially. He had bumped learning to be an animagus to early December instead of January.

When it was time to leave for school, Harry sprinted for the building as the Dursley's never let him out of his cupboard until it was too late to make the bus. They didn't take his magic into account. Smiling in happiness, Harry lost himself to the feeling of wind rushing through his hair.

He did not notice that his hair had regained the thin feathers of his phoenix form that shone red, green and blue in the light as it did before the transference, underneath the guise of messy black hair. He was one giant step forward to the shift, as his royal phoenix body had accepted him fully. Now all that was needed was time for the human aspect of him to blend completely before he was at peace with another shard of his splintered soul, but he didn't realise until later.

He slowed as the large white building came into view, but didn't stop until he was sitting in class while everyone else was outside, talking to each other. His teacher, Ms. Hamilton, looked at him reprovingly.

The 10 year old made a show of putting his things in order before choosing a book from his bag to read quietly. He watched his teacher out of the corner of his eye as she looked at his head, surprised. He darted a glance to the mirror in apprehension and didn't look back down. His eyes widened marginally at the changes in his body.

The hair changed, yes. But so did his skin, taking on a rather healthy pale versus the unhealthy sallow he usually was. Harry's eyes had stayed the natural green, but shone with captured light as his physique was lean and appeared strong. Grinning, the boy noticed that Ms. Hamilton seemed surprised as well.

Harry looked at her fearfully before he resumed hiding behind the thick book chosen from the public library that detailed in self-defence. When his teacher curiously placed her hand on the folds of clothing over his shoulder, he made sure to jerk away in surprise and stutter about being startled. She snatched her hand away and that was that.

Things progressed in a similar manner until late March. As Harry had suspected from the beginning, it had still taken some time to shift instantaneously back and forth between human and avian. But he had done it eventually, and now had access to the full spectrum of abilities presented by the firebird and his raven form as well.

His dire wolf persona blended with the full moon, when Harry sat still in the tiny cupboard and basked in the soulful baying of the hounds around Surrey.

Harry's magical core had, thankfully, grown enough to now employ the use of the highest stages of all of his internal bloodmagic, as well as toughening the fragile-looking skin.

Harry nodded and, with a flash of cold black fire, disappeared to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The entire student body gasped as black flames appeared near the ceiling, and were even more surprised as, with a trill, a black phoenix materialised above their heads. Another burst of flames gave way to the slightly smaller immortal bird that lived with the Headmaster.

Both landed on the Head Table and Fawkes spread his wings far as they would go, puffing up each of his feathers threateningly as he held his proud head high. The other simply hopped closer and trilled a soft greeting to the red one. Fawkes nodded with an angry trill as he disappeared once more.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily as he reached out an arm to the mighty bird before him. The older students all felt the magic coming from the royal phoenix as it screeched in rage, the bolts of icy lightning on the swirling feathers upon his head and tail flashed, going completely black on the emerald background.

Those that knew the legends of royal phoenixes muttered the ancient lore to their Housemates. The symbol branded upon the whirling tendrils showed how much they trusted you. Normal phoenixes couldn't land on those that were Dark; royals couldn't stand the touch of those that they believed could and would harm the ones it loved for any reason. Needless to say the school bristled slightly at Albus Dumbledore.

The most shocking thing was when the bird hopped over to every faculty member except Dumbledore, then seemed to deem them worthy of a single red tear to fall onto their hands. The phoenix paused slightly at Professor Flitwick and McGonagall, and he sang a short lament that had the two shivering.

Once the ruby tear fell, they all hummed in contentment at the feeling, basking in the love. Then Samael glided up to the ceiling and plummeted in front of Severus Snape. The school turned slowly at the sudden and brilliant chirp of relief and happiness to see their most hated Professor gazing kindly at the bird as a dark blue strand of magic briefly flickered between them.

Those watching saw both parties relax and were amazed to see that the Royal Phoenix alighted gently on the shoulder of the Potions Master. And were even more shocked when the two entered an unheard mental conversation.

_/Greetings, Severus, / _Lord Samael murmured, _/Circe, it's great to see you alive! I hope that the transition didn't last as long as mine did, that would've sucked. /_

Severus just rolled his eyes at his friend._ /Well, I don't know about you but _mine_ lasted a good two hours. Even after so long you're such a child, "sucked," honestly you get stupider every day. How long did your transition go on? /_ The bird sighed gratefully that the sharpness in Severus' mental tone stayed the same, even after so long. He trilled a laugh at the surly man who graced him with a twitch of the lips, which surprised many.

He then whacked Severus' head into his dinner plate with a wing, doubling over with his equivalent of laughter. Everyone else stared in varying states of shock as Snape slowly raised his somehow clean face and drew his wand.

Snape shot a few borderline curses at the phoenix, pleased that his lord had regained the emotions lost so long ago.

Samael had feelings, could laugh and joke, love and hurt, but the loss of his soulmate left them but echoes of their former selves. It had become a contest among the students and staff in the future to see who could make him show some sort of sentiment.

Yet here he was, exuberant and wearing his heart on his sleeve… or wing, as the case may be.

Quite a few speculated that the bird didn't like Dumbledore because he was Light, this royal was obviously Dark, to take a liking to the sour man.

_/I win; mine was at _least_ six, if not closer to seven. Thank Circe for silencing bloodwards, without them I'd have had to learn to shift much sooner than I did and let's leave it at that. /_ Severus winced at the image and the school gazed worriedly at him.

_/Well, /_ Severus murmured, _/it would seem that we're a sideshow attraction. /_

_/What say you to giving them something to stare at? /_Harry chuckled quietly at the curious gleam in Severus' eyes and told him to remove three clear glass vials. Severus looked at him like he was mad, (which was debatable) already knowing what was about to happen, but did so with a long suffering sigh.

Harry leaned over to the open vial and allowed more crimson tears to fall. They, to him, were those of love and trust. The school gasped together, it was starting to freak him out, how they did that… When the vial was full he watched it disappear into the folds of Severus's cloak to be replaced by the second.

These were tears of pain, loss, hatred and betrayal. They were black as the shadow over Shi's face, and once more people gaped. Those knowing the pain of losing a loved one felt their own tears sliding down their cheeks. Severus only kept his composure due to hiding far within his own mindscape of potions and storerooms.

The third vial was filled with the more "mundane" version of tears; the ones used solely for healing. The quicksilver-y substance was usually a shimmering pearl, Dumbledore appeared dazed by that, but then again, this _was_ a royal phoenix. Once more the vial left his sight, and Harry gazed balefully at Severus' left forearm.

_/I don't need you as a spy, you know. I could just heal you here and now if you so wish. /_ Severus watched as his Lord fluttered back to the table so as to stare him in the eyes. Samael looked as if the idea of him having the Dark Mark was rather offensive. He gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

Samael made a show of turning the luminous and metallic green eyes turned to glare at the location of the hidden brand, magic crackled in the air as the scent of burnt ozone filled the Hall. Without warning to most, Severus's arm burst into the green of Hellfire, it wasn't unpleasant at all, much like the first time it had occurred so very long ago.

The staff stood with wands out casting silent hexes and charms at what was perceived as an assailant. They stopped when a skeletal serpent floated above their colleague's arm.

Samael shrieked at the cloud of Black Magic as it too burned. His work done, the alias of Harry Potter winked his bird's eye, now slit as a serpent's with the basilisk's awakening at violence and evil, and flashed away once more.

When Severus curiously checked his left palm later that day, he found the symbol of Ouroboros, (Harry's basilisk form) encircling a charging Minotaur and screeching thunderbird. A black and white phoenix were intertwined in the centre as the Mark of Harmony burned in flames that shifted from black to white randomly. It was the mark Lord Samael and Lady Hecate gave to enemies in the fashion of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, in the sky.

Allies of the Dark Order got it upon their left palm, while the Light Order had it on their right, Hecate's animage forms as the design, the center stayed the same. Severus had both Marks. Luna would as well, soon.

Prisoners on the other hand were branded upon their brows by the Mark of Destruction; it was identical to that of Harmony but without the white phoenix and fire, and with the thought of bringing harm onto others, they were attacked by the larger marks of the animals that flitted across their bodies. They were forgiven if the mark disappeared and was replaced by the single rune of karma, and their collars burned to ash.

Severus nodded in acceptance as the second Mark came through fully. The animals were a circling Rainbow Serpent instead of a basilisk, a Roc in the place of a Thunderbird, and a European Dragon in the place of the Minotaur.

It was proof all was well.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: the zigzag's still there, but there's just one this time. Er… sorry for the wait, and here ya go.

Chapter 4: Of Soulmates and Wands

Harry flashed to his the residence of his soul-mate, she saw him outside of her window and ran downstairs to convince her parents that she was headed to the library and wouldn't be back for a while.

Five minutes later they had flame-travelled to the Hog's Head and transformed back to their human visages. Harry walked confidently in front of his love, but had more the air of protective brother than that of the soulmate he would act as but had not yet began.

'Excuse me, sir,' he said to the bartender, 'but me and my friend, we want to go to Diagon Alley. My Aunt- she's a muggle- told me that my mum said to ask you for directions when it was time to go shopping for the year ahead.'

Tom looked him and Hermione over and seemed to accept the jumbled explanation, 'Come on out back, then you two,' he said kindly, 'my name's Tom, the Alley is right through here, just a mo'.'

After cheerfully tapping the correct bricks, he ushered the children through the doorway and wished them luck.

'Right then,' Hermione said, turning to Harry, 'we came for wands, so don't we need money?'

'Not necessarily, love,' he said, 'Ollivander is obligated as a wandmaker to present the Lord and Lady of magic a wand to fit their roles. Every wandmaker keeps supplies in the back for just such an occasion. We repay them by using their works to keep the balance.'

'You've learned quite a lot, haven't you?' a sudden thought seemed to strike her, 'er, Harry, how long was I dead?'

He looked at her mournfully and seemed to fight with himself before answering, 'When I used the Calling of Ra, I looked around my late thirties to early forties,' he took another breath at her incredulous gape, 'it was the year 5000.' Hermione's hand flew to her face as her lips formed a small "o." Harry gave her a sad smile in return. They stepped into Ollivander's and were greeted by the white-eyed wandmaker.

'I don't believe that I should be seeing you two just yet,' he said in his wispy voice, 'how may I help you?'

Recovered from the shock, it was Hermione who spoke first. 'Oh, come now, Ollivander,' cooed Hermione, 'surely you have space in the_ back room_ for two children wanting a wand?' He paled at the realization of just who was inside his shop before suspicion came through.

At a mental signal he couldn't place, the children before him shifted to show that Royal Phoenixes were truly in his humble store. They both dropped two of the swirling feathers, one for their wand and one as a gift to the ancient wandmaker, as per tradition so he could braid them together with a core of his choice to make his own wand.

'Right then,' he said hoarsely as both his right and left hands burned pleasantly with the shifting brand from that of the old alchemical circles to the new one, 'follow me.' He led them to the back room and set the feathers down reverently on the table. The ones he would be keeping were placed in a safe of sorts, next to a branch of insubstantial, smoky grey wood.

'Right then,' Ollivander said nervously, 'if I may ask how you came into your inheritance so soon?'

'Easily,' said Harry flippantly as they returned to their human bodies with an innocent blink that fooled no one, 'I simply had to _call the sun_. I'm a Black necromancer, you see.' Ollivander nodded and relaxed slightly.

'Well then,' he said briskly, 'Lord…'

'Samael,' Harry supplied helpfully.

'Hecate,' Hermione said softly, Ollivander nodded again.

'Right, Lord Samael, that section is where I keep the less… agreeable woods. Lady Whiteflame, over there is where the more Light oriented woods are kept. Simply run your hand over the sprigs until you find the one that best suits you, I'll return shortly with my different cores.'

Harry went carefully over each type, some produced a light tingling that he supposed was good enough, but kept going, searching for the right one. Hermione did the same, and soon both were standing back at the work table with two different sticks. When Ollivander returned, he looked excited at the prospect of dual woods. No doubt that there would be multiple cores as well.

'Same thing with the cores, if you would,' he said giddily. When they were done, both had chosen four different wand cores. The old wandmaker looked about ready to start jumping off of the walls.

He took the cores for Hermione first, and entwined the feather with a white hair and wrapped that around a scale. He shaped the wood lovingly and pressed the twisted mass inside before pouring ash over it. He appeared to be possessed the way that his hands moved without any conscious thought. There was no thinking involved; only an image of the vortex they travelled through within his head.

Thirty minutes later, Hermione got her wand. There was no sparks or flashy displays, only a silver nimbus glowing around her briefly before sinking in. She sighed in contentment. It was a beautiful wand, the woods blending together seamlessly, the two colours swirling about one another on the smooth surface, the handle was twisting ivy, fitting the curves of her palm and the back of her hand perfectly.

'That wand,' Ollivander murmured, 'is made of oak and alder, the two are good for charms, healing, nature magic, protection wards, and counter curses. The four cores are unicorn tail hair, willingly given, again for charms and goes only for the pure of heart. The ashwinder ash is once more for protective wards and charms. Your feather is for all sorts of magic, but adds power to light and Defensive spells. The chimera scale is rare, a boost of power but also represents yourself.'

'Oh,' Hermione breathed, eyes shining, 'that's amazing!'

'Yes indeed,' Ollivander agreed as he continued, 'the smooth surface shows that it and its mistress are calm and collected. It is rigid as well, for defensive magic once more, it is headstrong and unyielding. It is also fourteen inches long, showing that your core is already ridiculously powerful with much growth to come. All in all, I have never in all my years seen a wand so steeped in ancient light magic, but that is to be expected, yes?'

'Thank you very much, Ollivander!' She cried happily, 'er… how will we avoid being singled out as the Lord and Lady?'

'I was wondering that as well,' said Harry, 'and you'll keep this transaction secret?'

'Of course I will,' he sounded scandalised, 'but by casting a simple charm upon me, it could be anything from levitation to a curse, I won't be able to say who you are without permission, even under Veritaserum or a Ligilimancy attack. As to the second wand, I can supply a glamour charm to cover your true wands to match any secondary wands. And a secondary wand with two holsters,' he added as an afterthought. 'The secondary will be the ones you had originally, to be picked up the day your escort comes of course.'

Hermione nodded thoughtfully before using _Wingardium Leviosa _to levitate Ollivander a few inches off the ground. When he dropped gently, white light and phoenix song flashed for an instant. Then He began on Harry's wand.

Another thirty minutes later, Ollivander stepped back from the table quickly. He had entwined the feather and thick black sinews together, wrapped it around a long fang and slid a chimera scale within the incisor. The spiralling shaft was black and red, swirling in such a way it was impossible to tell when the change occurred. The effect was rather dizzying altogether.

The handle was in the shape of a fire, the flames wrapping around his wrist comfortably.

When Harry lifted it, a cascade of feeling poured forth and a dark gold nimbus enveloped his sight as his blood runes glowed proudly, he felt several blocks shatter and disintegrate as his magical reserves increased tenfold, a bit more of his old power but all of the magic his younger self held before. It was liberating.

Quickly, he cast a _Petrificus Totalus _on the man before him only to swiftly cancel it the moment he could. It was wonderful to have a wand that _worked _for him after using only wandless spells for so long.

'Well then, Lord Samael,' Ollivander murmured, 'your wand is made of Padauk and Yew; they are for curses, Dark Magic and Necromancy. Any novice would be consumed instantaneously by the Padauk and its seductive call. Proof once more of your story.

'The runespoor fang accents your Dark Magic, and your feather is the same as the lovely Lady here, but Dark instead of Light magic. It also has a rather unexpected affinity with lightning, air and fire while Lady Whiteflame has one with water and earth.The chimera scale has the exact same purpose as your beloved, obviously, just as the Hell Dragon heartstring is used for hexes and curses.

'If I may be so bold I would go so far as to call your wand a temperamental monstrosity that Lord Voldemort wouldn't be able to wield without being burned or consumed. I take it you don't like others controlling you?'

'This truly is amazing,' Harry said with laughter in his eyes at the wry assessment, nodding slightly as he carried on, 'and the length plays the same role as Hermione's at 14 inches, yes?'

'Indeed,' he nodded, 'the shaft is sharply spiraled, signifying that you are quick witted and open-minded as they come. The fact that it is inflexible marks it once again for hexes and curses, with a willful deposition that doesn't back down.'

'We thank you, Ollivander,' the two said together, 'for the wonderful explanation and fantastic wandcraft.'

'No,' the white haired man said with a smile, 'thank you for giving me the honour of doing so. The other wandmakers will all soon be sporting your mark. Do you have a name for it?'

'The Mark of Harmony,' the two chorused together with fingers intertwined, 'goodbye, Ollivander.' They said as black and white fire deposited them at home.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Dursley Dilemma

It was finally Dudley's birthday, and Harry was going through his pre-memorised script, begging to stay home just so that he would be taken along. When he finally got inside the car, it was to be subjected to the prodding of the two boys sitting beside him.

The warning Vernon dropped on him still ringing in his ears, Harry shook his head dazedly and flitted through the crowd to the gates.

When he entered the zoo, he swiftly caught the eyes of Hermione and, glancing at his uncle, darted towards her.

If he could just get a little closer before his relatives noticed he was absent… if he could get in a word edgewise… he opened his mouth to speak.

'Boy!' roared his uncle just as he had let out a breathless 'Help me, please!' to the elder Grangers. He and his soulmate turned to face the thundering man.

'I hope that my nephew hasn't bothered you at all,' Vernon said, puffing from the short walk over, 'he has a nasty habit of spouting lies to people. In all honesty, he shouldn't even be here due to the last ugly fib he told, but it's my son's birthday and we had no other options but to take him along.' He turned to said nephew, conscious of the crowd around him, 'Come along, Harry, we have to stay together.'

Harry stared defiantly at his uncle as the red changed swiftly to puce with his silence. 'No,' he replied quietly, allowing tears to rim his eyes, 'I won't.' He made sure to tremble as Vernon's face contorted with rage.

'WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?' They were drawing attention now. Harry grabbed the seams of the oversized shirt, looking fearful as he could; silent tears were shining in the corner of his eyes. The glamours on Harry's eyes adjusted as the pupils slit ever-so-slightly and the green began to glitter with suppressed anger.

In plain sight, they just glinted calculatingly. Hermione puffed herself up to her full height and her bookish demeanour snapped.

'He said that he bloody well wasn't going to follow your fat arse back to the hell hole you came from!' Vernon reeled away from the girl as if he'd been slapped.

'Hermione,' gasped her mother, 'watch your language!' Hermione just grinned manically and struck Vernon's shin, making the man hop about. Her hair had almost gotten a shade lighter.

'Why you little_ brat,'_ Vernon howled as his meaty hand rose for a blow. Everyone watching the scene was moving to attack this man where he stood; Mr. Lovegood and other wizards and witches were fingering their wands inpreparation to hex the disgrace on a moment's notice.

No one had seen a small blonde girl slip away from her father until she stood with the boy and other girl. The lean, raven-haired child stepped into the noon light for the first time that day with the two girls and stood his ground, the oversized shirt and pants obviously hand me downs, not to mention the tips of darkened skin at his collar stirred the horde into a rage.

Harry stood with his trembling arms splayed out in a protective gesture in front of the brunette and the blonde.

'I said no,' he shouted in his child like voice as an unnoticed current of electricity ran over his body, a sourceless wind pushing up his hair and clothes as they flapped around his frame, 'you can hit me all you want, I'm just a worthless freak after all; but if you even _think_ of hurting these people you'll see just how "freakish" I can become!'

Luna's voice, for once not distant, was heard over the furious mutterings as she stood with fingers tangled in Hermione's hand, a calculated move as the friendship bond renewed, 'if you want to hurt them,' she cried out in a perfectly outraged tone, 'you're going to have to hurt me as well!' the magic users not paying attention whirled around at the sound of the well-known voice, and sure enough, the fat walrus looked like he was about to strike.

Then Harry and Hermione started shaking in fake terror. They grasped doggedly at the frayed threads of their uncompleted soul bond. Luna let go and stood with shaking fists, glaring daggers at Vernon.

They grabbed each other's hands and yanked the magic into compliance; then felt the magical backlash of a partially fulfilled soul bonding whipped over them. Black dots covered their vision as they fell to the ground, clinging to each other strongly.

Needless to say, one Harry Potter was escorted away with Hermione Granger as muggles were obliviated of the events by Albus Dumbledore. But despite that one thought circled through four extremely smug, if groggily incoherent minds at the end of the day.

_Mischief Managed._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Building Confidence

Harry groggily came to, he kept his eyes shut and breathing even as voices filtered into his ears.

Bloody manipulative old codger and his Sleeping charms needed to give up trying to control him.

'But sir,' cried a shrill voice, 'we _can't _send him back to-to- that!'

'But his relatives' house has protection against anyone harming them,' a voice he recognised as Dumbledore protested weakly, 'he has to stay with them to be safe from outside dangers!'

'And what, pray tell, will protect the boy from his family? I'm sorry sir but you have to leave; even if you are the famous Albus Dumbledore of far too many names to list in anything but an official capacity.'

'I'm a close friend of his family; I just need to give the poor boy some information and I'll be on my way.'

'You may speak to the child when he awakens and is seen fit for visitors, not-' Harry cut off her tirade with a low groan that was echoed weakly to his right. Turning his head, Harry was nose-to-nose with his beloved.

Harry felt years' worth of apathy and shields melt at the sight. Emotions he had long forgotten the feeling of nearly overwhelmed him… his 'mione just wriggled a little closer.

'So kind of you to join us, Mr. Potter,' Dumbledore said jovially as he stepped around the now sputtering healer, 'as you can see, we were unable to separate you and young Ms. Granger here. Do you know what happened to cause such a thing?'

'Uh, no sir,' Harry murmured, 'we just touched hands and then I couldn't see… please,' he begged with sudden tears that obviously made Dumbles uncomfortable, he smirked inwardly as outwardly he cringed into the bed, 'p-pl-please, I won't do anything like it ever again, j-just _please_ don't make me go back into my c-cupboard.' He started sobbing loudly; great, hiccupping sobs that left the Headmaster at a loss of what to do.

Just as Albus opened his mouth to reply, the healer puffed herself up and started to berate him for "upsetting children with an already precarious mental condition." After the man left, she deflated and smiled kindly at the now cringing boy in her care. She was unsurprised that the girl brought in with him was in a similar, if not so severe, state.

'Hello,' she said kindly after sitting calmly by the bed, 'my name's Healer Turner. I won't do anything to you, I promise, I was just wondering if you were hungry at all? I really should get some food into you two dears.' She was rewarded when both relaxed enough to sit up and look at her. The little elf-like child nodded, his eyes dull, and she left to get food.

_/Well, /_ he thought slyly to his soulmate as the glinting emeralds glinted with sudden amusement, /_that was easy. Sorry that you had to see my memories, they aren't too pleasant, after all. / _Hermione grimaced before snuggling closer to her love.

_/They weren't, but at least now I know what you went through and have all the knowledge you gained… not that I can actually _do_ half of it until I construct simplified, spellcaster, versions of them… which I'll have you know will take_ forever_./_

Harry laughed,_ /I'm glad that you can still grumble about lack of knowledge. How about that as our pet project at Hogwarts? /_

_/Deal, / _Hermione giggled happily at the statements, blatant reminders that she was very much alive and well, _/but what about our increased power? /_

_/I'll make suppression bands. It turns out if you wear them; it's a lot like running with weights, makes you stronger _really_ fast. /_

_/Hmm… pet project number 2 for Hogwarts? /_

_/Nope, this should take first priority. Have you found that your two cores aren't fully combined? /_

_/Yep, it's just that our bodies are too weak for them to do anything but burn us out. The bands will allow them to combine fully with our bodies, even though we won't be able to actually _use_ the secondary core until we reach the age of magical majority. But it will aid instead with things like healing and growth and such. You know as well as I do that the more powerful one is the larger percentage of magic will go towards helping the rest grow. Until then, our magic can still surpass our past abilities. Once the bands are on the second core will also help the primary one grow. When it binds fully, our power will increase by the amount of our adult cores. As another benefit- or downside- you never mess up spells your magic learned to do wandlessly. Obviously it'll make things like training and fighting easier, but appearing normal will be harder than ever before. / _Hermione said as she went into lecture mode.

Harry chuckled at the long-winded explanation, _/ but still, our skill level is such that if we really tried, we'd easily be able to cast most anything with less energy. I'd say that it places us around fifth-year in terms of ability, but different uses and creativity might allow anywhere from that to a mastery in subjects. / _

_/She's coming back, / _Harry said suddenly, _/here, let go of my arm and pretend to be asleep. / _Hermione happily complied and was almost instantly asleep for real. Harry snorted softly in amusement.

The healer walked in quietly and was shocked at the caring expression on the young boy's face.

'Hello again,' she said softly as his head whipped around, thin body curling between his friend and the healer possessively, 'I brought you some soup if you still want it.' The blonde placed the tray softly nest to the bed and walked to the door, only to freeze when her patient spoke in a gentle voice, at odds with the crying of before.

'Thank you very much, Healer Turner. I'll see you in the morning.' With that, Harry ate quickly and efficiently before he joined his mate in sleep.

Turner blinked tears from her eyes and strode purposefully from the room, only to be almost tackled by the girls' parents outside the door… again.

'How is she,' demanded Daniel Granger before his wife could so much as open her mouth, 'has the magical backlash thing done anything to her?'

Turner sighed inwardly, 'No, your daughter is perfectly fine. At the moment she's sleeping naturally, which is a good sign. However, I've figured out what the connection is, and it would definitely be dangerous to separate the two children at this stage. If I'm right, which I am, your daughter has bonded to her soulmate.'

'Her… soulmate,' Emma asked quietly, 'you're telling us that the poor boy our 'mione won't let go of is her soulmate? What does that entail, exactly and why did it happen so… violently? And why would it be dangerous to separate them right now?'

'A soulmate to us is meant literally,' Healer Turner said patiently, 'it is when one has met the person who holds a piece of their own soul. What it entails is that they will most likely be able to hear each other's thoughts and emotions as they would with their own. Also… when they get older the platonic friendship will shift to be more romantically centered. They will marry in the far future, which is quite certain unless they hate each other, which is a far cry from the emotions I saw in there.'

'That boy will be her husband, then?' Dan asked dangerously, 'my daughter is entered in some sort of… of… marriage contract?'

'Not a contract, per say, just that they will, probably around fourteen or so, begin to develop romantic feelings for one another. It's just that, with the bond, it will happen for sure, rather akin to people who've been friends for their entire lives will sometimes fall in love but with very high odds.' The elder Grangers deflated at her reassurances.

'As for why the bond appeared so spontaneously, it was a situation where they both felt as if they owed their lives to one another and wished to live together as long as they can, and were certain that the other was a "safe bet," as you say. Usually the bond is unnoticeable, slowly but surely growing. With these two, though… the combining of their magical power and binding of minds was exceptionally powerful. The first thing we did was scan the cores, and this is what we saw.'

Healer Turner pulled out five scans and placed them on a table to be viewed.

She tapped the middle one with her wand and the silhouette sparked into life with fluctuating colours of every shade conceivable, 'This is a scan of a ten-year-old child. As you can see, it is very unstable and changes without much warning. This is perfectly normal, and the brightness of this core is a gauge of how powerful the child is. By the way, this is one of a child on the more powerful end of the spectrum.'

She turned to the picture on the right and tapped it as well, 'This is a scan of a 60 year old, which is around middle aged to us, who is also quite powerful, see how the magical core is much more stable, staying at around five colours with only the lighter shades. It shows that this wizard has an affinity with Light magic.'

She rapped on the one right of the latest scan, 'Darker colours like this indicate Dark affinities and such. Ironically, couples who lean to opposite affinities are much better matched and it shows with the percentage of marriages with opposite leanings.'

'I'm sorry if this sounds impertinent,' Emma muttered tightly, 'but what exactly does this have to do with the children?' The blonde healer just smiled and slid the three active scans towards the Grangers. Then she activated the last two, and all three had to blink the spots out of their eyes as the scans flared into life.

'This one is of your daughter Hermione. She has already chosen her affinity, apparently, and is an exceptionally powerful Light witch.'

Daniel picked up the picture of his daughter's power and saw how the icy blues, greens, teals, reds and gold swirled playfully about, weaving in and around strands of dark silver that wrapped protectively around the magic, coaxing it to twirl smoothly through Hermione's body like a river and bubbling gently to the surface, versus the maelstrom of magic lashing about the "normal" child.

It was then he spotted small things rushing around in the magic.

'What the bloody hell are those,' he exclaimed, ignoring his wife's admonishments as he pointed to the flitting objects, 'I don't see anything like them in the other scans.'

Healer Turner gazed at them until she blinked in surprise, 'it would appear that your daughter is an animage,' she took a quick glance at the boy's picture, 'and her soulmate is as well, it would seem. Oh, an animage is someone who can turn themselves into more than one animal at will. They are far more common than most know and few who have the potential actually strive for it. Usually they will become an animagus who has one active form, if at all.'

Blinking, the parents traded scans. Where Hermione's was light, Harry's was shadows. The reds, greens, blues and silver darted around just as playfully as hers, but they were all dark to the point of being black.

Also different was the design, Hermione's magic was a stream with soft curves and gentle movements, serene and calm, just under her bodies surface… Harry's was sharp, pointed and had a predatory grace to it that seemed embedded in his very skin.

Creatures of dark light prowled actively, flitting through the magic, into and away from their vision. Instead of the silver of Hermione's paths, his magic was guided by cold golden threads that mirrored one of their daughter's shades perfectly.

'This is the strongest and fastest forming soul bond I've had the privilege to see for my entire career,' the healer pulled out a sixth and seventh scan, 'this is of the bond itself,' she passed the sixth over as well once the other five deactivated and faded from view, 'this was taken directly after the magical signatures, take a look.'

Tendrils of energy reached for each other, icy gold from Harry and dark quicksilver from Hermione. The Grangers stared at it for a moment before passing it back, 'And what does the other show of the bond?' Dan asked carefully.

'This was taken before I left the room,' she activated the final photograph and placed it gently in Emma's outstretched hands.

The two colours of magic had twisted around so thoroughly that it was impossible to separate them; they were bound tightly and appeared to be around an inch in diameter. The combination had actually created a shade without words to describe, and had black and white flickering throughout the entire mass while more tendrils seemed to be weaving into it. Somehow it still looked delicate to the muggle parents.

'We can't pull them apart until they have a more stable condition. Sadly, every memory, every thought that's ever passed through their heads will be transferred to the other. This means that your daughter… well, don't be surprised if she's reluctant to speak, avoids you, develops new phobias, or relies heavily on Harry for a while.'

Daniel's heart fluttered in his breast, 'Do you know how bad the abuse was?'

'Yes,' murmured Turner as she shuddered, 'he had multiple breaks over the years, evidence of severe malnutrition, his eternal organs are so scarred from years of healing bleeding and bruises internally that it's a miracle the child's alive, let alone as sane as he is. I've seen suicide for far less, and the way he reacts, it's as though it was nothing but a mild inconvenience. The boy's an actor and cunning as they come, mark my words.' She shook her head before continuing her diagnosis to the pale parents before her.

'I took the liberty of pulling in a mind healer while they were out to take a look as he should at least have PTSD, but instead she found that his mind is akin to a hardened, well-adjusted war veteran and has inane mental shields so powerful that even the strongest of us couldn't break past the space behind the initial barrier to see that he had no idea of his name before kindergarten, his bedroom was a cupboard and he remembers seeing his parents murdered.

'The first shield is always weakest, and only guards the memories of least importance… if that was low priority; I don't even want to begin to think about what is at the center.

'And the shields themselves- it's akin to what we've seen torture victims with knowledge of the art possess. When the mental probe brushed them, the ligilimancer- the mind healer- ended up screaming on the floor from what she said later was like what the _Crucatius_ was supposed to be like. And that curse is so bad it has an automatic life sentence, if not death. You can only have things like that guarding your mind if you've felt it, and yet he is perfectly normal in other respects and can still care for others. It's horrible how strong he has to be.'

'My God… Hermione will experience all of…_ that?'_ a soulful gaze was his only answer.

'Here, go and sit with them until the morning. Your daughter will need you,' with that, Healer Turner walked dejectedly to the apparition point and went home for the night, already choosing which bottles to empty.

The next morning, Harry woke with a contented sigh, his love was in his arms and no one had died yet in this world. He sat up on the pillows and gently shook her awake.

'Prat,' she yawned good-naturedly as he laughed at her antics, 'hey, look my parents are here! I haven't seen them since seventh year, when I sent them to…to… Australia.' Tears ran down her cheeks in remembrance as she curled back into Harry's side and sobbed at the loss, at everything he went through, at the injustices of the world.

That was the sight Emma and Daniel awoke to, Hermione sobbing brokenly into the side of a black-haired, green eyed boy with pale skin and his arms around their daughter as he murmured comforting nonsense in her ears, broken by inexplicable hissing murmurs, reassuring growls and short warbling trills.

Slowly, her breathing calmed and she rested her forehead on his. At an unseen signal, they stood on opposite sides of the bed and stretched.

'Hermione, Harry,' Emma asked softly so as not to frighten them, 'are you alright?'

'Hello, mum,' Hermione with a shaky smile,

'We're perfectly alright,' continued Harry smoothly,

'As a matter of fact,'

'We're rather eager to go and,'

'Explore this building,'

'If that's alright with you,' they finished together, not noticing that the one-sided conversation was seamless and rather eerie.

'Er,' Dan blinked as they stood at the foot of the bed and grabbed hands once more, 'are you sure that you're alright? Perhaps you need an explanation as to why you two rather independent people ended up-'

'We're already aware that we're soulmates, Mr. Granger,' Harry chirped.

'Yup, Shini explained it to us,' Hermione nodded sagely as if it explained everything.

'Who is this "Shini?"' Emma asked, confused at the mood swings, 'and I really don't think that you should be poking around,' she added as an afterthought.

'Shinigami, of course,' Harry snorted indignantly, 'you know, seven feet tall, black cloak, super cool spear thing.'

'Actually, it isn't a spear but a sickle,' Hermione informed him promptly as they laughed and ran from the room, leaving two gaping adults in their dust.

_/Are you certain it was smart to drop such a big clue, Harry? /_ Hermione fretted as they swiftly climbed the stairs to the permanent ward, _/if Dumbledore finds out; won't he put two and two together? / _

_/You forget who you're talking to, 'Mione,_ _/_ Harry said mischievously, _/if we're involved, we just make sure that when people add up two and two they get fifty-three. /_ He was rewarded with a lighthearted laugh as they efficiently crossed the corridor to the room holding Neville's parents.

Closing the door behind them and placing complex wards so no one could enter and time would cease to exist in the closed room. Nodding in satisfaction, they briskly sat by Alice's head and submerged themselves within her mind.

**It was white as far as the eye could see; they passed disjointed images of Neville coming to visit and birdsong. They quickly made their way past the white mist to a locked room holding Alice, who was pacing in a posh library.**

'**Hello,' Harry said as they neared Alice's subconscious, 'do you know where you are?'**

**Alice spun around with a broken malice in her eyes, as if she had given up all hope and just wanted to be left alone. **_**Poor child,**_** he thought sadly.**

'**I presume that I'm experiencing the wonderful **_**hospitality**_** of Lord Voldemort,' she spat out sharply at the impressed children before her who seemed so young; it was rather confusing. But she just shook away the thoughts and hissed, 'where are my husband and son being held? If you've hurt them I swear to Merlin that LeStrange'll look harmless!'**

'**You definitely won't want to hear this, but at the moment you're lying in a bed in St. Mungo's with your husband next to you. Your son, Neville, is ten and old snake-face has fallen. I'm Harry James Potter.' **

'**Lies,' she said weakly, 'that's impossible. I've only been here for a few weeks.'**

'**And in those few weeks,' Hermione piped up, 'did you once need to eat, drink or sleep?' Alice's surprised face was answer enough.**

'**Bellatrix LeStrange,' Harry spat venomously, 'tortured you and Frank into insanity with the **_**cruciatus **_**curse.** **Come with us, please, and we'll prove that** **everything's changed completely.'**

'**What do you want in return,' she asked cautiously, 'what do I have to do, if this is real?'**

'**What is your magical affinity?'**

'**Dark, but only a little, Frank's more light than neutral... Why did I just answer you?' Alice watched as the girl nodded in satisfaction and stepped back while Harry stepped closer to her.**

'**You know of a ritual named the Calling of Ra, correct, Unspeakable Shadow?' Alice froze; no one knew who she was but the very top of the hierarchy… **

**She instinctively answered, 'The Calling of Ra was a ritual used by someone who was a master bloodmage, black necromancer, and the Dark Lord or Lady. It is made to take centuries to set up but when it does it catapults the Dark Lord with whoever else he has access to come with them back…in…' her eyes went wide.**

'**Forgive me, my Lord,' she said quickly, 'had I-'**

'**Hush,' Harry interrupted with a slight grimace at the title, 'you are not to blame for this. But as to what you owe me; your loyalty and to destroy prejudice against Dark magic in your son so he has a choice of what path he wishes to take will be sufficient. Come along now, Alice Longbottom.' He said as the trio strode out of her mind.**

'Thank you, my Lord;' she said breathlessly once her eyes opened, 'can you awaken Frank?'

'We can try,' Hermione said shortly as Harry marked Alice with his symbol, casting a strong ward around it to be unnoticeable unless she wished it to be seen. The Mark of Harmony resided on her left palm. Harry stood and called over his shoulder, 'we shall return shortly.'

Alice watched in nervous apprehension as they delved into her love's mind. Minutes later they were back, with her Frank.

'Thank you, my Lady,' he said, 'I shall wear your mark proudly.' When his marking was done, the two fell into a true sleep for the first time in years.

Harry dropped the bloodwards as Hermione cancelled the Time suppression charms. They met Augusta Longbottom and Neville in the corridor as they staggered tiredly from the long-term care ward.

'Er, hello,' Hermione yawned tiredly, 'I'm Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter, and could you show us to the diagnostic ward?'

'You're the Potter boy, then?' inquired the stern woman before the two; she nodded and pushed Neville forwards, 'this is my grandson, Neville Longbottom. Get acquainted while I guide you back to where you should be, come along now.'

'Are you really Harry Potter?' Neville asked quietly before flushing, 'sorry, if you said so than you must be. Are you planning to go to Hogwarts this year?'

'Not a problem,' Harry said kindly, 'and yeah, we both are probably going there. You know, I can see certain auras, you're really strong.'

'I am?' Neville blinked in shock, 'I don't think so.'

'Well,' Hermione stated, 'you aren't strong in the normal way of perceiving, but have you ever done things like heal cuts and bruises really quickly? I have a feeling that you almost never get sick, either.'

She absently noted that Augusta was listening interestedly, having slowed down and tilted one ear towards them. 'Yeah, but how'd you know? And what does being healthy have to do with magical power?'

'Kids typically get sick a lot, and injuries sometimes take days to heal at our age. I think your magic is more inverted, concentrating on keeping you centered and calm, I read that if you channel it properly, it can give you a photographic memory or help a lot with things to do with nature, like Herbology.'

'Really, is that true? What type do you two have?'

'We're a little bit of both,' Hermione started again.

'But I'm much more straightforward. Observe,' Harry then laughed and proceeded to transfigure a small stool into a tiny version of his wolf form, and made a show of peering at it inquisitively. Needless to say, it caused no end of chaos from the Longbottoms. Harry just stood there innocently and changed it back before turning to the flabbergasted Augusta and Neville Longbottom.

'What did I do?' he asked in confusion as Hermione disguised a laugh as a cough.

'Like he said, his magic is straightforward. I'm far more inverted, like you… unless I'm in real danger, I remember this one time a gang of kids were chucking rocks at me, my skin turned hard and I burst into flames!' She adopted a look of confusion, 'but no one but me remembered it the next day.'

Augusta thought it was prudent to intercede, 'that is because obliviators wiped their memories of the event. We can't have muggles running about knowing we exist. Although, it's good to hear that my Neville just has different magic than most.' The rest of the walk passed in silence until they reached the correct room.

'Thank you, Lady Augusta,' they chimed, 'have a nice day. See you at Hogwarts, Neville!' with a final wave, they slipped back into their room and sat back down on the beds. And so they waited for the Grangers to arrive once more.

Neville stared after them in slight confusion.

'Come on,' his grandmother said, steering him with a hand, 'let's go see Frank and Alice.'


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: SO SORRY that it's been so long, but this chapter gave me issues… and it made me sad to type. I read this over and pretty much spazed at the fact that I WROTE this thing… anyways… I promise to try and not let it be such a long wait next time… and that I'll update Hogwarts' Lords this week. I PROMISE. Well, now that that's over with… here ya are.

Chapter 7: Shopping and a Portable Zoo

The Grangers stormed angrily into the hospital room to be met with low murmurs and the two soulmates embracing. Dan blinked in surprise as Emma rolled her eyes and, once she had his attention she just mouthed _'told you they would be back here'_ with a triumphant smirk. Neither noticed when the two on the bed winked at each other and began silently counted down from ten.

Emma sat next to the bed and placed her hands gently on both of their backs and smiled reassuringly, surprised when they leaned into her touch and smiled shyly.

'And how was your exploration of the hospital?' Emma asked with a raised eyebrow at the now fully blown smirk on Harry's face.

They just shrugged and chatted amiably for a few moments before suddenly they started snickering. Right before cries of shock were heard from far above.

'Good Merlin!' one of the voices shrieked, 'the Longbottoms are cured!'

After a quick hi-five, Harry faced Dan with an innocent face.

'Mr. Granger,' he began, 'what's the plan now that I can't leave 'mione yet?'

'Er,' Dan blinked again not comprehending the mischief conveyed in the congratulations, 'well, surely we could arrange for you to stay with us during this summer. That was actually what Emma and I were discussing earlier.'

'Really,' Harry said with happiness before withdrawing into himself, 'but I wouldn't wanna be a burden…'

'Not at all,' Emma said in a rush, 'it wouldn't bother us in the least to have you live with us during the holidays, Harry.' She watched as the two seemed to zone out, eyes glazing over.

_/Well, it certainly will give us a chance to get planning for the rest of the year, and also an excuse to act so alike and close already, if we don't want the bond to be common knowledge. / _Hermione pondered as plan after plan whirred through her head only to be discarded almost instantly.

_/Stop trying to micromanage. Seriously, have you ever read a dictionary? / _

_/Yes, why do you ask? / _Harry snorted but carried on.

_/What about Murphy's Law? /_

_/If something can go wrong it will… alright, I get your point. Hell, your face is next to it! /_

Harry snorted in amusement and withdrew, 'alright,' he chirped, 'I can do that.'

'Good, well, I'm sure that you'll be glad to hear that the healers are letting you go?' Emma joked as a murmuring came from Hermione. They faced her and nodded, beaming.

'Right,' Dan clapped, 'time to go, then.' They filed out happily, laughing and joking with one another. As they passed by a couple who were being escorted by a troupe of healers, no one saw a quick glance shot in their direction by two children that was met with the slightest bowing of Frank's head.

'We hope you aren't too tired,' Emma said as they walked away and were transported to Diagon Alley, 'but one of the professors was free today, so she's taking us shopping for your school supplies today.'

'No, that's fine,'

'Say, is that her over,' Hermione continued seamlessly as Harry finished her sentence again.

'There? She seems kind of strict looking.'

'Yeah, didn't we see her at the zoo?'

'Yes, you most certainly did,' McGonagall confirmed as she heard the last sentence, 'how do you speak the way you do, anyway? I have two students that do the exact same thing, I never could figure out how they did it.'

'We're soulmates,' Hermione shrugged.

'So that might have something to do,'

'With it; makes things much more fun.' Harry nodded sagely at the comment of his mate as McGonagall groaned and muttered something about the twins having successors.

'Come along now; let's get money from the bank,' the Professor said as they passed the entrance to Knockturn Alley, 'then your uniforms, books, wands and if we have time perhaps a pet for school.'

They finally reached the bank, and the small group stepped inside, met with rows of goblins and stacks of coins on each counter.

McGonagall strode over to the nearest clear teller and began to speak, 'Mr. Potter would like to visit his vault,' she said as the goblin looked up and sneered down at him.

Harry bowed his head slightly, maintaining eye contact as his hand fluttered to his heart, he stood and kept staring at the goblin for a few seconds, smiled widely without showing his teeth, and relocated his eyes to the goblin's forehead, which blinked in surprise at the polite greeting of business partners.

'Very well,' he snarled softly with a small smirk replacing the leer, 'does Mr. Potter have his key?' McGonagall was shocked, never before had she seen a goblin smile at a wizard, but she just shrugged it off as the goblins showing respect to the Boy-Who-Lived.

She placed the key on the counter where it was snatched away and handed back down to Harry, who stepped forwards and took it, still looking a millimetre above the goblin's eyes.

'All seems to be in order; Griphook will take you and your mate to your vault. She may share it with you as your souls are bound.' He motioned Griphook over, Harry and Hermione shared the same greeting with him as well before stepping to the tunnels. They were followed by a quick, 'Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and welcome back; may you succeed in your endeavours.' The cruel laughter that followed from the waiting room drove quite a few customers out for a few hours.

'So, you found the Calling of Ra and decided to use it,' Griphook said, eyeing him appreciatively, 'pray tell, what earned the urgency for you to use Black necromancy to such a degree?'

'I should've known goblins would see past my "innocence" to the distortion of time within and around me,' Harry said nonchalantly, 'magic died. I was the last wizard in the world by the year 4503, and the last magical source by 4999. I left in the year 5000 when I felt my magic crest.'

'So, I wish to be able to recognise the work of my new Lord, what is your chosen name?' Griphook growled happily, smelling bloodlust slumbering within the eleven-year-olds soul as his glamours all dropped at once and he assumed his combined form, snapping away the illusion of a weak, broken child.

Luminous, slit green eyes slashed with violet shone brightly from a curtain of swirling, thin feathers in the place of hair reaching to curve along his chin. Spiralling bands of dark silver scales flowed upon his neck, reaching to curl next to each eye and cheek. His arms and legs both were covered as the natural, spiralling armour undulated over muscles and around pale skin, stark against the background. His skin glowed with dark light from the blood runes.

'I am the Lord Samael, do meet my Lady Hecate,' Harry said as he pulled Hermione closer to his side as her own wandless glamours fell.

Her eyes were a glittering, icy gold shot through with bright crimson as the brown lightened, scales of shifting colours rippling gracefully over her face, neck and limbs like oil over water. Her skin paled and her hair smoothed, reaching the small of her back in a cascade of light against the dark shirt as it turned a brilliant silvery blue with streaks of green and red rising to be seen before disappearing once more. Both bore sharpened nails upon their fingers as well as elongated incisors, poking slightly over their bottom lip. The smell of ozone permeated the air as magic cracked idly over skin.

Griphook bowed in acceptance at the power before him, Light and Dark in perfect harmony, never fading to grey yet indecipherable where they met. After a few moments, the power was reigned in and bound as the glamours sprang into place and the light softened and disappeared. They all climbed into the cart and they were off into Gringotts.

'Can this thing go any faster?' Harry yelled over the wind as a surprised goblin shrugged and kicked it into high gear, they rocketed along the rails as whoops of elation were torn from the trio.

They all stepped from the cart and walked up to the door of Harry's trust vault. Once Griphook opened it, they snatched a bag and filled it with Galleons, Sickles and Knuts for school shopping.

'Griphook,' Harry said, 'do you have a bag that connects to the Inner Vaults?'

'Of course,' Griphook smiled in what would've been called by others a dangerous leer, 'just place your hands on a blank wall and channel magic inside. A bag that responds only to you and your mate will appear in your hands. Just think how much you want and it will fill, short of 10,000 Galleons. And it's unlimited for you two, nothing is too much.'

They did as they were instructed and felt goblin magic batter at their bodies. Wincing, they asked once more and added more of their own magic as it blended naturally with each animagus form and vanished. Glamours dropped again and they called back their strongest forms as power granted from the Founders and each Goblin Chief before them added to the assault, they fell to the ground.

The magic was coaxed gently by cobalt and ice blue into a single location around their hands. The attack ceased and two embroidered bags came into existence, and the excess was absorbed back into the walls of Gringotts.

'Well,' Hermione breathed tiredly as once again glamours came into existence, 'that was fun.' Griphook burst into laughter as the two picked themselves up and brushed themselves off, grinning happily.

'Let's get back to the surface, my Lord and Lady,' Griphook turned the dial back to full and they catapulted off, the wind once more stealing cheers from the group. Too soon, it stopped and the children bounded off, laughing joyously to the incredulous stares of the rest of the bank.

'That,' Hermione began with a splitting grin.

'Was,' Harry said loudly.

'Awesome!' they shouted together, the goblins schooled their faces so as not to grin at the young humans who seemed to enjoy the ride.

'You know,' Harry said as he turned to Griphook, 'muggles have this thing that I heard about called a roller coaster, and it's just like this but with loops and hills and drops and corkscrews, which are like spinning as you go in one direction. You should try recreating one here, it'd be _great!'_ The adults in the bank turned faintly green and shook their heads in despair at the thoughtful faces on more than one goblin.

'Come along,' McGonagall called to them, 'time to get your robes and books.'

They walked into Madame Malkin's and hovered around the front of the store.

'Hogwarts uniform, dears?' asked Madame Malkin as she noticed them standing there, 'just stand up here and let the tape measure do its job. I'll be right back, I have to finish something then I'll be with you.' Twenty minutes later, they walked out with a bottomless, feather light bag and headed to the book store.

They glanced at each other and bolted in opposite directions, leaving the shocked professor behind as Hermione snatched up the books for the first two years of school, one copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ and a small stack of books on magical theory, runes and arithmacy.

Meanwhile, Harry was hidden in the back of the store grabbing books on the animagus transformation, Dark and Light magic, histories so he could pass Binns' class, a few on exorcism, a creature index and quite a few on Occlumancey and Ligilimancy, around five tomes of advanced runes, the curse breaker's bible and, for good measure, a self-updating book on laws and old families.

He rushed back to the front of the shop to ring in his purchases, winking at Hermione as he passed.

'I'd like to buy these, please.' He said meekly to the man behind the counter who stared at him in surprise. Before he could kick up a fuss, Harry's gaze darted to the sides and he flipped up his fringe. With a gasp of recognition, he bought the books at half price with no trouble at all. Hermione slipped past McGonagall and bought her own small stack, smiling brightly.

'Professor, we're done,' they chimed as McGonagall jumped and whirled around to see them standing calmly behind her as if they hadn't disappeared into the recesses of the shop for a good half an hour. She shook her head forcefully and led them to Ollivander's, the elder Grangers trailing behind in a daze.

The bell above the door rang and Ollivander entered looking much younger and energetic than McGonagall had seen him in ages. She blinked as a flicker of reverence passed through his eyes and passed it off as the light.

Ollivander removed a wand of smoky grey wood that was engraved with realistic flames and waved it at the two. A flash of magic later and two boxes hurtled into each of the children's hands.

'That'll be 7 Galleons, 6 Sickles each,' he said happily as the wands sparked brilliantly, a dull thrum of magic filled the air as small bolts of lightning crackled over the shop. 'Your wand, Ms. Granger, is unicorn hair and oak, eleven and a half inches. And yours, Mr. Potter, is Holly and phoenix feather, also eleven and a half inches. It is curious, very curious.'

'Excuse me,' Harry said, 'but what's curious?'

'I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter,' Ollivander began gravely, 'and it just so happens that the phoenix who donated a feather for your core dropped one other,' he leaned over the counter and stared into Harry's eyes.

'The brother to your wand, well I'm sad to say that it was the one that gave you that scar.' He pointed to Harry's head and leaned back. Everyone gaped at the old man. Harry just smiled brightly and chirped out thanks. A tiny flash of brown disappeared into Harry's 3- compartment trunk that the Grangers bought with McGonagall, and they were off to a pet store.

_/Hey, do you remember how we had a veritable zoo of familiars in the old timeline? / _Hermione asked as Harry nodded absently.

_/But they were all sold down Knockturn Alley… /_ Harry sighed, _/alright Hermione, follow my lead and we'll find a way down there. /_

'Professor,' Harry said softly as his gaze whipped around, 'is it normal to feel pulled in a direction? I feel like parts of me are over there, sorta like I did with 'mione but not as strong.'

'I feel the same way,' Hermione fretted, 'what does it mean, professor?'

McGonagall smiled reassuringly at her charges, 'well,' she said soothingly, 'I think your familiars are calling to you. Follow it carefully and find what you're looking for, they'll be in a pet shop, I do believe.'

Her charges looked relieved and they shocked her by heading absently to Knockturn Alley, McGonagall was sorely tempted to pull them away, but if their familiars were in there, she had to let them go or face the consequences of an unfulfilled, straining bond. She just told the worried parents to wait by the Portkey point and rushed after the wayward children.

She walked confidently to the Alley only to be unable to follow the children. She stood back and paced anxiously as the two melted through the shadows of the crowd. Her prayers that the place holding the familiars being close to the entrance went unanswered, luckily the crowd moved unconsciously around the children as they walked confidently through the Alley, _perhaps they are doing an accidental notice me not charm,_ she decided in relief. Finally, they tucked themselves into a dark store filled with cages of common pets.

Harry and Hermione each made a beeline for a cage with a silvery white owl within with tawny eyes. Harry's was darker and larger then Hermione's, its talons a gleaming light in the gloom of the shop. Even though it was dangerous and larger, it was obvious in the mannerisms that the owl was a female. The shopkeeper watched as Harry opened the cage and lifted the owl to his shoulder, mirrored by Hermione on his other side.

'A fine choice,' the shopkeeper called over as the children refastened the cages and placed them on the floor, 'not many see those two, and they're a rare breed of magical creature, called an Arial, rated XXX by the ministry.'

Hermione nodded and the Arial matched the unblinking stare the other three leveled at the shopkeeper.

'We wish to see the back rooms,' Harry said as he allowed his aura to leak out slightly his green eyes slashed with violet, the Dark coming from him unmistakable as clientele, not a ministry lackey.

'Fine,' the shopkeeper said as he motioned them to the rooms out back, 'but don't blame me if something scratches at you.' He stated coldly as the door opened to reveal a much lighter corridor.

Harry walked into one room as Hermione went the other. Harry looked up at his Arial and spoke to her gently, as she was obviously mistreated. He flicked his wand at her and cast a Cooling Charm around his shoulder, causing the poor dear to relax immediately, sending him a grateful look.

'What do you say to the name Hedwig?' Harry asked as he stopped outside of a bolted door, at the bob of her head, he grinned and stepped inside the room that held his second familiar. A blur of red flashed as fangs snapped at his throat from a long muzzle.

He stepped to the side and sank to the floor, letting his magic release from his tight control once more, but stopping it from exiting the room. The wolf stopped as a silver chain snapped taut, it turned and raced at him after recovering from the first leap. Harry just sat and waited for it to leap again before grabbing the small cub and casting a _reducto_ at the shackles.

It stopped struggling and sat shaking in his arms, awaiting the expected punishment with its eyes firmly shut as Harry ran his fingers gently through deceivingly soft fur. The set of sharp golden eyes met his, and Harry felt yet another bond snap into place. He smiled softly at the red wolf cub, his hands glowing with his silver light as he hissed a single phrase in Parseltongue.

_:Heal, little warrior,:_ he said as cuts and scars melted away from the cub's skin, 'there,' he murmured with the cub cradled to his chest, 'you seem to be a fighter indeed, by the way you attacked,' Harry murmured in amusement, 'how about I call you Ares, after the Greek god of war?' The cub pawed him once and leapt nimbly to the ground, blissful at the scent of freedom and promise of happiness.

Harry chuckled as he crossed the hall to another door and allowed his magic to seep into the room as he stepped inside to find a black panther curled at his feet in a room without shadows, the light relentless as the chained feline shuddered in its own blood, left over from her own thrashing. She whined and Harry understood the pitiful request perfectly; _'Kill me…'_

'No, little one,' he said with a tear in his eye as he crouched, once more healing a familiar, 'you shall live, and I think to name you Nocturna, it means of the night.' The Shadow Panther sighed in relief at the absence of pain and the natural shadow cast by the dark wizard above her, a grumbling sort of whine that tore at his heart. The last of his words sank in and she hauled herself to her feet, striding purposefully along beside her new master, he seemed decent and she did not wish to anger him.

'I feel one more connection, let's go find the fourth.' With that, he walked to the end of the hall to a door covered in warning signs. Harry opened the door and stepped inside, feeling lightning prickle over his skin as ozone filled the air. He recognised the signs immediately and hurried his explanation in Parsel.

_: Hush:_ he hissed_: I am here to ressscue you, little ssserpent. :_ The black snake with electricity calmed at the Parseltongue knowing that you cannot lie, uncoiled and slithered to Harry's arm, head resting in the hollow of his throat as it tasted its new master's magic. His coils tightened in surprise at the taste of scales and lightning, fire and venom as well as pine, an unusual combination but not a bad one.

_: Greetingsss, I am Lightning, massster. :_ He hissed in reverence of the being before him. Harry nodded with a smile and reluctantly suppressed his magic once more.

Hedwig alighted on his shoulder while Lightning curled about his neck, Ares jumped into his arms as Nocturna flowed gracefully at his side, flickering in and out of his shadow. Together, they marched to the counter, where the shopkeeper staggered back in shock at the sheer number of familiars that were bound to the dark child. Not only that but they were all, aside from the owl, classified XXXX by the ministry, but the worst treated of his entire stock.

'Ah,' he said weakly, mouth dry, 'that'll be 150 Galleons, sir.'

'90 with supplies; that's generous and you know it.' Harry hissed in counter as his soulmate walked back in with another, larger, Shadow panther by her side who she informed him promptly was named Ohanzee (Zee for short and male), a white Firefox named Guinevere draped around her neck, and a blood tiger named Jira (female) cradled in her arms. Along with her Arian Tharin on her shoulder and his own group of familiars, it was quite the menagerie.

'90 for her as well and we'll be on our way.' Harry said to the stunned shopkeeper and forked over 180 Galleons. Minutes later they exited the Alley with the most controversial animals (Lightning and Jira) disillusioned but the owls, panthers, fox and wolf to be met with the professor gaping at them.

'These are all your familiars?' McGonagall asked in a choked voice, 'I don't know if you're aware, but usually creatures of this classification are aggressive and barely tolerate a single presence. Add that to the fact that there are a school's worth of students they need to put up with and it's rather frightening.'

Hermione shrugged and stepped in front of Harry, who was pretending to withdraw into himself for the Professor's benefit (and to avoid snorting out "you don't know the half of it… literally.") McGonagall sighed in resignation that she would get no conversation and led them to the elder Grangers.

'Come along, then,' she said, 'time for you two to go home.' She smiled at the shocked parents and tapped a bus ticket, '_portus,' _she said as it glowed blue.

'Here you are; grab hold and brace for a fall.' All four touched the card, the menagerie had contact with their bonded so were transported as well. A tug behind the navel and a stumble later, all were inside the living room of the Grangers' house where the true numbers were revealed.

Emma stumbled to the couch and promptly fainted and Dan went pale at the implications.

'Er, how exactly will we feed all of them?' He asked weakly, gesturing to the eight predators who were glancing about.

'Don't worry, they feed off of us,' Hermione explained to the horrified look of her father.

'Our magic, to be precise,' Harry interjected soothingly.

'And the owls hunt,'

'In the towns, cities and parks, my snake is fed on pure magic as is my wolf,'

'And mine too, but Jira, my tiger, feeds on a few drops of my blood daily, larger amounts can keep her sated bi-weekly.'

Dan still looked pale as he slumped into his chair and moaned, 'what did we get ourselves into? My daughter has a future husband and two animals that eat her energy, a vampiric tiger, an owl that appears to control ice, if the cold near it is any clue, and every memory of a ten year old boy crammed into her skull.'

A terrifying thought seemed to occur to him, 'how in the bloody nine hells will we keep this quiet?'

Harry decided to interject before the poor man had an aneurism, 'I can cast very precise invisibility charms, courtesy of the Dursley's. How do you think I went unnoticed for so long? And 'mione can to, since she knows what I do. We just cast it on each of our familiars. When we go to the train station they can be hidden.'

'Yup,' Hermione nodded, 'Gwen can rest around my neck,'

'Lightning will for me,' Harry said as said snake waved its tail in greeting.

'Zee can hide in my shadow,' The Panther did so.

'Ditto over here,' Harry piped up again as Nocturna melted away.

'Jira can walk beside me,' the tiger was disillusioned and stood stationary beside her.

'Ares can probably just sit on my trunk,' Harry said as the wolf cub smiled, well, wolfishly.

'And there you have it, well, the owls can just be in cages, we can claim they're exotic pets or something,' Hermione finished smugly.

Dan nodded, 'well, it seems plausible, but what about the school year?'

Both Harry and Hermione's eyes glazed over just as Emma came around. The familiars ceased to hide.

'What'd I miss? All I remember are seeing a bunch of predatory animals in our…living…room.' Her voice trailed off at the sight of aforementioned animals still there.

'The kids explained how they were going to hide and feed their new… familiars.' Dan repeated the conversation narrating which animal was which, nodding at the soulmates as they came back into full awareness.

Emma repeated the question Dan had asked, 'and the school year?'

'The owls, panthers, wolf and fox will stay visible, common knowledge. The snake and blood tiger will be known only to friends and allies.' Harry said seriously as Hermione rolled her eyes.

'And this is why Slytherin chose _you…_' she muttered under her breath, much to Harry's amusement.

The solemn statements laid out so bare, delivered by two children that had aged far too quickly was eerie and intimidating, the parents shuddered in apprehension. They barely noticed the rather bloodthirsty glint buried deep within Harry's eyes, smothered carefully but there. How had a child learned the feeling? And such control to keep it chained?

They turned quickly to happier topics expertly shifted to for a few hours; dinner was an enthusiastic affair with many mentions of Hermione's "fears" of being behind those raised in magical households.

Harry cemented his status as pitiful with a birdlike appetite and so many flinches he thought for sure he'd develop a tic… that would make Moody's paranoia look like a curious child playing tag.

Harry yawned as the sun dipped low into the horizon. He excused himself from the dining room and slipped away to his new room. Curling up next to his familiars on the bed, he slept as the night crept through the neighbourhood.


End file.
